Sunday, December 22, 2013

DBJ mails in a recap for CBJ Game 36: Philadelphia

Returning to the Jekyll and Hyde team of November, the Columbus Blue Jackets laid into the visiting Philadelphia Flyers tonight, beating Philly by a score of 6-3 in regulation and exorcising a number of demons from Game 35 in the process.

Give me points for honesty: I didn't watch the game all that closely. Yes, it was on. Yes, I poked my head up to watch a little here and there. Yes, my house was filled with rampaging children as some of my in-laws made a weekend youth travel hockey road trip to Central Ohio and were kind enough to stop by and drop off some Christmas presents.

So as the Blue Jackets were laying the proverbial lumber to the Flyers, I was assembling the Dark Blue Kiddo's brand-new FIVE LEVEL TOY CAR PARKING GARAGE.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY STICKERS GO ONTO A FIVE LEVEL TOY CAR PARKING GARAGE?

Yeah, that's why I didn't follow the game that closely.

That said, what I did see suggested that the Blue Jackets bounced back, both mentally and production-wise. Ryan "I'll be getting paid this summer, thank you" Johansen dropped in two more goals, as did R.J. Umberger. Wait a minute, R.J. Umberger? Really? OK...

I gather that Marian Gaborik gave it his all for just under 3 minutes of time on ice before succumbing to yet another injury, this time a broken collarbone. The guy's snakebit. No getting around that. What a terrific waste of Blue Jackets salary cap room. Ah well, it was a gamble and everyone knew that he was a one-man occupational therapy clinic.

More critical is that Matt Calvert - one of the CBJ's more important energy players (along with Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno and - I suppose - Boone Jenner) - also is injured. Reports had him with an arm in a sling after the game. This would not be good.

McElhinney stopped 33 of 36. Solid night.

The important takeaway is that rather than letting Thursday become more than it was - a really, really bad third period - the Columbus Blue Jackets put that behind them, took advantage of last line change and stuck it to a division rival.

Redemption? Not really. More like getting over a developmental speed bump, one of many that this team has encountered this season.

NEXT UP: Monday night vs. the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh at 7PM.

And here's your haiku:

Goal. Another goal.

CAN THIS THING HAVE MORE STICKERS?

Hey! Yet another goal.

3 comments:

Funny thing last night. When the third period chants of 'We want Mason', with the score 5-2, started echoing in the barn, I reflected that this might have been the first time I ever heard some real, organic, home grown snark out of a CBJ crowd. I wonder if that's a sign of good things to come?

You realize, the only way that Steve Mason will ever play another game at Nationwide Arena is if Columbus plays his team in the playoffs and he can't avoid it. He's probably going through all sorts of counselling today, having sat on the bench and heard all that.

(And yes, good for the Columbus fans. I still kinda like Mason, but there is nothing wrong with home team fans taking advantage of a situation like that which was presented last night.)